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In this stop on my 62-year journey along Wall Street, I discuss the evolving nature of the stock market. Today’s market is not your father’s market. Sixty years ago, less than 3 percent of the American public owned stock. Today that number is north of sixty percent and growing. Sixty years ago, Wall Street brokers were the gate keepers to the equity markets.  Today, eighty million American investors make their own investment decisions using discount brokers and index funds. And outperform the pros, to boot!!

 The fees charged by the Wall Street mavins are based upon their alleged ability to predict individual stock prices and market movements. After six decades as a stock market observer and participant, I have concluded that Wall Street analysts and TV weather people are distant cousins. 

We are about to enter the Q2 earnings report season, and according to Yahoo Finance, investors are waiting with bated breath for the release of those numbers. In this episode, I discuss Wall Street’s ability to predict stock prices and market movements and comment on their usefulness.  

The episode concludes with observations on how 401(k) participants can leverage the 401(k) infrastructure to outperform the Wall Street pros.

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During a debate on the Federal budget, Herbert Humphry, the late, great Senator from Minnesota, said, “A billion here, a billion there, and pretty soon it starts to add up.” The same thing can be said for today's 401(k) program, except you need to change the B to a T. 

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, there are 7,834 active 401(k) plans with 90 million participants. The value of their combined investments is in excess of $12 trillion. That's a number twice the size of the federal budget, and number that has the full attention of Wall Street’s bean counters. 

What is unique about the 401K program is that it requires the individual investor to make their own investment decisions. But their choices are limited to a menu of mutual funds selected by a broker who is compensated by the funds they place in the menu. In this episode of my podcast, I will provide data on how the 401(k) pie is currently being distributed.  

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The stock market loves good news and hates bad news. The problem is that it has trouble deciding which is which. It also reserves the right to pause and change its mind midstream, without prior notice to the investing public. 

Last week, the US Congress passed what the media refers to as “The Big, Beautiful, Bill. It covers a sweeping number of topics that will impact the trajectory of our society and economy for years to come. Many of the issues addressed in the Big, Beautiful, Bill are social in nature and of minor concern to the market. But there are two areas covered in the bill that have significant implications for the market’s future: Energy and interest rates. 

The response of the 90 million Americans with 401(k) plans to this hazy forecast could be one of confusion and despair. But history tells us that the American economy has faced many uncertain times. And each and every time has emerge bigger and stronger. If the stock markets initial response to the Big Bill is negative, those 401(k) participants who are index funds investors will be able to buy additional shares at a reduced price and lower their average cost. If the markets response is positive, the total value of 401(k) index fund portfolios will increase in value. 

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The normal half time segment of a televised football game, begins with a petite blond female reporter accosting the loosing coach with a mike and screeching at him, “Your losing by 49 points, what do you need to change in the second half?” The answer is obvious to everyone except the blond reporter: Score more points. 

In this exciting and insightful episode of my podcast, I will discuss what the experts predicted the market would do during the first half of 2025, and report on what really happened. This will offer you an opportunity to reflect on how your retirement dollars performed during this period and what you need to do to make the second half a winner.

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Our lives are dominated by and consumed by technology. We can turn our house lights on from a phone in our car. Our car recognizes us. The best chess player in the world is a server farm. This has lead us to believe that all our problems can be solved by technology. We refuse to believe that the best investment outcome is simple and close to free. In this episode of my incredibly insightful podcast, I will explain why mutual funds managed by Wall Street’s best and brightest are unable to outperform a simple, cheap index fund.

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What's in a name? I have chosen this iconic line from Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet to impress you with a fact that I am a learned, erudite professional and not just some off the street strapping hanger, bloviating about the market. This episode of my incredibly insightful podcast is directed at the 90 million Americans who have their life savings invested in a 401(k) plan. Their only investment options are mutual funds and the mavens of Wall Street are trying to convince them that their expensive index fund knock offs are the real thing. But, calling an ordinary pigeon a majestic bald eagle, doesn’t make it one.

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Wall Street Dummies are engaged investors who realize that Wall Street’s jibber jabber generates more money for Wall Street than for Main Street. They view the moniker Dummy as a badge of honor and a single digit salute to the Wall Street elite. They are vigorous advocates of index funds and discounts brokers, and employ them in their retirement accounts to outperform the pros. 

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The internet has been flooded with articles claiming that emulating Buffett will make you rich. Unfortunately, the methodology most cited was in vogue 40 years ago. Using antiquated methodology to deal with modern technology is an exercise in futility.  A more reasonable approach is to do as Buffett says, not do as he does. This incredibly insight episode will document Buffett’s REAL advice to individual investors. 

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Over the course of the past few weeks, Mr. Market has been on a tear. Most people view his actions as chaotic, unexplainable and unpredictable. In this incredibly insightful and entertaining episode of my podcast, I will explain to you the rationale behind Mr. Markets seeming irrationality. By pealing back, the smoke and mirrors of the financial media’s ramblings, Wall Street Dummies can learn how Mr. Market really works and use that insight to grow their retirement accounts.

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Shakespeare wrote, “A rose by any other name would still smell sweet. That may apply to horticulture, but it doesn’t work when applied to stock market indexes. In this incredibly insightful episode of my podcast, l explain the differences between the primary indexes and those bastardized versions created in the smoke field back rooms of Wall Street’s marketing departments.

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